This was probably not the best post for my first post here, was it?

Together at last, you and E – what a long and treacherous road we’ve traveled, together. I really don’t care now who buys that drink :)

Entelechy on January 15, 2008 at 1:09 AM

Ahhhh. But my dear friend, I fear we will be at odds after Huckafake and McShamnesty are out of the race.

Hopefully, the GOTV push will motivate the rational evangelicals to vote Mitt or Fred.

csdeven on January 15, 2008 at 1:06 AM

Together at last, you and E – what a long and treacherous road we’ve traveled, together. I really don’t care now who buys that drink :)

Also I’ll call the general election: Huckabee Vs. Hillary

Huckabee Shrillary wins by 8%+

I said it first…remember it.

HaraldHardrada on January 14, 2008 at 4:24 PM

Fixed it.

Maybe because evangelicals regard him as a conservative and not a money-grubbing immoral politician who sticks his finger into the wind before each and every statement he makes.

Maybe evangelicals believe that progress is indeed good if done in a responsible and conservative way.

Maybe evangelicals believe that a leader grounded in moral principles and who has proven he will STAND FIRMLY upon those principles even amidst stiff opposition is what America needs in this time of little to no leadership.
Maybe evangelicals, like Huckabee, care about others besides their damned selves!

Al-Ozarka on January 14, 2008 at 5:45 PM

Yes you are right about all of that.
And evangelicals are wrong on all counts. Huckster is just pulling the ol’ Jim Baker on them.
I have to ask you, what do you think of a guy that would desecrate the sanctity of his relationship with the lord to further his political endeavors? Where I come from that is pretty sick. You know like those people that put the fish symbol on their signs and business cards to help them sell their wares.
I did not know that ones relationship with Jesus Christ was a negotiable commodity or mammon.

Maybe because evangelicals regard him as a conservative and not a money-grubbing immoral politician who sticks his finger into the wind before each and every statement he makes.

Maybe evangelicals believe that progress is indeed good if done in a responsible and conservative way.

Maybe evangelicals believe that a leader grounded in moral principles and who has proven he will STAND FIRMLY upon those principles even amidst stiff opposition is what America needs in this time of little to no leadership.
Maybe evangelicals, like Huckabee, care about others besides their damned selves!

Al-Ozarka on January 14, 2008 at 5:45 PM

Hey, how about those ethics violations while he was governor, and his lawsuit against the ethics committee when they investigated? And the drapes in the mansion he tried to abscond with, the wedding shower/registry two decades after the wedding, and the front organization designed to direct contributions from donors like embryonic stem cell researchers and tobacco companies into his pocket in secret?
Those kinds of principles?

how is it any less of a deviation for religious authorities to do it at a presser or on TV than at church? They’re still leveraging the authority that comes from their association with the exempt organization; the only difference is that they may be reaching more people that way.

I would say that the reason is that otherwise, they lose the right to support and promote a Presidential candidate. A right that all citizens have.

I certainly think that Huckabee is riding the cross to the Presidency and I don’t like his politics a bit but it would be pretty darned Democrat of me to start wanting to quiet anyone’s free speech. We can beat Huckabee in other ways without acting like the other side.

They can’t endorse from the pulpit or else it jeopardizes their tax-exempt status so here’s the end-around, every bit as transparent as James Dobson’s pro forma disclaimers about speaking in his capacity as a “private citizen”…

That isn’t “transparent;” the word for that is “fraudulent.”

Maybe because evangelicals regard him as a conservative and not a money-grubbing immoral politician who sticks his finger into the wind before each and every statement he makes.

Maybe evangelicals believe that progress is indeed good if done in a responsible and conservative way.

Maybe evangelicals believe that a leader grounded in moral principles and who has proven he will STAND FIRMLY upon those principles even amidst stiff opposition is what America needs in this time of little to no leadership.

Maybe evangelicals, like Huckabee, care about others besides their damned selves!

Gotta go.

That’s rich: get ordained, lose your 1st Amendment right to free speech and petition. I don’t like Huck as a candidate, and find such tactics slimy. But the law that forbids pastors from giving biblically informed opinions about candidates was the brainchild and spawn of LBJ. “Hmmm… if they compare my policies to Scripture, I’ll come up short. Better stop all that free speech in them thar pulpits by threatening their tax exemptions.”

Would you forbid pastors from writing letters to the editor? Talking to neighbors? Sheesh.

Akzed on January 14, 2008 at 4:17 PM

Why should they be granted a tax exemption if they are operating as a political advocacy group? What would stop political advocacy groups from registering as churches to gain the exemption, then just serve as lobbyists?

Do you really want a situation where moveon.org spies are sitting in the pews to see if the pastor slips up, however innocently? Must a preacher become an IRS code afficianado in order to protect himself and his parish from govt intrusion because he identifies the advocacy of sin as such? What you advocate is only about 60 years old in a nation (at least) 232 years old. Think about it.

I’m not sure why you give him so much flak AP for preaching in the pulpit, though. Are they somewhat of a campaign stops? Sure. But he is a former pastor and he preaches a straight forward sermon.

Of course that plays into the “Christian leader” cred he’s establishing, but he really can’t do anything else. If he doesn’t go to churches, he’s “running from his Christian past.” When his campaign was in single digits, churches were probably the only place that would have him speak. But all the candidates make church visits and speak religiously, even Rudy and his recent “pray for me” spiel.